His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And they said, 'If the Most Merciful had willed, we would not have worshipped them. They have no knowledge of that. They are only guessing.'" "Or have We given them a Book before it, so they are holding fast to it?" "Rather, they said, 'We found our forefathers upon a religion, and we are following in their footsteps.'" "And thus, We did not send before you any warner to a city except that its affluent said, 'Indeed, we found our forefathers upon a religion, and we are following in their footsteps.'" "He said, 'Even if I brought you better guidance than that upon which you found your forefathers?' They said, 'Indeed, we disbelieve in that with which you were sent.'" "So We took retribution from them. Then see how was the end of the deniers."

Allah, the Exalted, mentioned the argument of the disbelievers with their opinions to clarify the invalidity of their stance. This is because they made Allah's delay in punishing them and His blessings upon them—while they worshipped idols—a proof that He is pleased with the worship of idols as a religion. This is akin to commanding it. So Allah, the Exalted, negated for the disbelievers that they have any knowledge of this, and they do not have a revealed Book that necessitates that. They only speculate, conjecture, and guess, and this is what is meant by guessing and conjecturing.

The majority of people read: "upon a religion" with a pronounced hamzah, which means: the creed and the religion. The verse—on this interpretation—condemns their blind following. Mujahid, Al-Jahdari, and Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "upon a religion" with a broken hamzah, which means a blessing. From this is the saying of Al-A'sha:

"And neither the king Al-Nu'man on the day I met him, With his blessing, gives the gifts and declines."

And from this is the saying of Udayy ibn Zayd:

"Then after the success and the kingship, The graves covered them."

So the verse—on this meaning—continues their argument, as they say: We found our forefathers in a blessing from Allah, the Exalted, while they worshipped idols. So that is a proof of His pleasure with them, and thus we have been guided by that, following in their footsteps. Al-Tabari mentioned from a group that "the religion" means the way, from your saying: I followed this way.

Then Allah, the Exalted, set an example for His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and made him a model for those who preceded him from the warners and messengers, peace be upon them. This is because the affluent among their people—who are the people of blessings and wealth—responded to them with a similar response.

The majority of the reciters read: "Say, even if..." and the meaning is: So we said to the warner: "Say, even if..." Ibn Amer and Hafs from Asim read: "He said, 'Even if...'" In "He said," there is a pronoun that refers back to the warner. The rest of the verse indicates that "Say" in the reading of those who recited it is not a command to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, but rather it is a narration of what was said to the warner. And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Even if" is the interrogative alif that has entered upon a conjunction that connects one sentence to a preceding sentence. And "if" in this context is as if it is conditional, meaning "if." The meaning of the verse is: And if I brought you clearer and more evident than what your forefathers accompanied you with in your obstinacy and your blind following? Then the disbelievers responded at that time to their warners: "Indeed, we disbelieve in that with which you were sent."

And His saying, exalted is He: "So We took vengeance on them" is a warning for Quraysh. It is a parable of those nations that were punished for denying their prophets, just as they denied Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. The majority of the people read: "Or if I had come to you," while Abu Ja'far, Abu Shaykh [al-Hanai], and Khalid read: "Or if We had come to you." Al-Amash read: "Say, or if you had come."